Just got a call from my daughter, she says Galleria being evacuated. Too many people, due to a bunch of singers in the Promenade. No more shopping tonight. I am guessing too many people knew about the flash mob.

Just got a call from my daughter, she says Galleria being evacuated. Too many people, due to a bunch of singers in the Promenade. No more shopping tonight. I am guessing too many people knew about the flash mob.

M.E.G.

Best made plans of mice & men.

From what the news said last night, these guys had no idea that by letting the word out, and the viral mindset from youtube viewers, they truly created a mob scene. i.e. expected a couple hudred, got 5 thousand.

I expect, malls and stuff will now make new rules against people trying to repeat this kind of event. Christmas Caroling is supposed to be an unplanned event for the target audience, these guys broke that unwritten rule and paid the consequences. Shut down before they even started.Nice thing to do to a mall already hurting from lost revenue caused by a mad bomber.

I think credit should be given to the authorities for evacuating and possibly preventing a Kansas City Hyatt Regency type of incident from occuring. I'm sure people were disappointed, but better that than people getting hurt or worse.

I think credit should be given to the authorities for evacuating and possibly preventing a Kansas City Hyatt Regency type of incident from occuring. I'm sure people were disappointed, but better that than people getting hurt or worse.

Absolutely, and news footage showed one of the main organizers standing up in the middle telling everyone to leave and go home. later footage showed him outside in the parking lot, leading the singers in song where it was safe to do so.

the problem was it was over-promoted... unfortunately flashmobs are more mainstream and well known now. This event was pretty well known by lots of people beforehand; it should have been more secretive. However the catch-22... if it's too secretive, maybe not many will show up!

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Posted 21 December 2010 - 10:08 AM

And this Flash Mob thing is just stupid. It's supposed to be a spontaneous event but this one was ADVERTISED on the Tomato Page Forums! DUH no wonder to got way more response.

Reminds me of "reality" TV, as if there's anything REAL about it!

the problem was it was over-promoted... unfortunately flashmobs are more mainstream and well known now. This event was pretty well known by lots of people beforehand; it should have been more secretive. However the catch-22... if it's too secretive, maybe not many will show up!

That's just silly. These types of events draw people in from other parts of malls. While there isn't initially a crowd, it doesn't take much to draw one -- of a sensible size.

How does one capture the look of wonder, surprise and awe in the faces of spectators when those spectators know in advance the flash mob is going to happen?

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That's just silly. These types of events draw people in from other parts of malls. While there isn't initially a crowd, it doesn't take much to draw one -- of a sensible size. How does one capture the look of wonder, surprise and awe in the faces of spectators when those spectators know in advance the flash mob is going to happen?

It was simply over-promoted. The element of surprise was gone a week or two ago - call it a mass caroling event rather than a flash mob. Just about every singer I know was aware of it. It did draw a good sized - and good natured - crowd to the mall. These people were also shopping and dining. Nothing wrong with that. Who woulda' thought that a virally communicated sing-along could draw more people than any other commercially advertised sale event.

Had the floor not shifted, it would have been fine - although the crowd was getting uncomfortably dense. Some effort should have been made to keep pathways clear and spread the crowd out. A stampede would not have been pretty.

The mall was part of this - they facilitated the sound system... so don't go on blaming "outsiders".